Fight The Horde
by WinterSky101
Summary: Thor would rather his still-injured brother stay out of this fight, but Loki won't even hear of it. Third in "Valhalla, I Am Coming."


**Title comes from Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song."**

* * *

"I'm a part of this fight, Thor," Loki snaps, repeating the same sentiment he's been spouting for the entire hour-long argument. "Whether you like it or not. And I'm going to see it done."

"Loki," Thor groans. "You're still wounded-"

"I am not weak," Loki spits. "I can fight Thanos as well as any of you can. Better than your puny Midgardian friends-"

"My 'puny Midgardian friends,' as you call them, were able to beat you," Thor interrupts.

Loki scoffs. "Your Hulk was able to defeat me, and that was when my mind was not fully my own. I'd like to see it try to do that now."

"Loki," Thor says, trying to sound rational and calming, "Thanos is vastly more powerful than the Hulk, and as I said, you're still wounded."

Loki bares his teeth, and before Thor knows it, there's a dagger at his throat. Loki's hands still aren't entirely healed - all his wounds are surprisingly resistant to both his Asgardian healing and his seidr - but they're not impeding his ability to hold the knife steady at all. It's so close that Thor could slice his own throat open if he swallowed too hard, but Loki's grip is sure. "Tell me again that I can't fight because I'm wounded, Thor."

Thor has always tried his best to be a good brother, and he's been trying to win this argument the way he thinks a good brother would, but if Loki won't listen to reason, he's going to have to make him. Quickly, Thor moves away from the knife and pushes against Loki's stomach, right where he knows there's a still-healing stab wound. It's a cheap shot and he knows it, but it's a shot that none of the Chitauri would hesitate to take with much more force. Thor cannot, in good conscience, allow Loki to fight with such a weakness.

As Thor expected, the push is enough for Loki to gasp in pain and start curling around himself before he's able to stop the motion. "You're fighting like I would," Loki says after a moment, around short, sharp breaths. "I'm proud."

"You cannot go up against Thanos like this," Thor says. "Please, brother, stay back, just for this fight. You've done more than enough to help us already. We never would have defeated Glaive or Midnight without you-"

"But we have not yet defeated Thanos," Loki retorts, although his voice is still a little too breathy. "Thor, he will be almost impossible to defeat, even with only some of the Infinity Stones. We may have kept him from getting the Mind Stone and the Space Stone, but he has the Reality Stone and the Power Stone. He may have the Time Stone and the Soul Stone by now."

"Which is exactly why I don't want you to fight him while wounded!" Thor cries. "You'll be safer if you stay here-"

"If Thanos wins this fight, it won't matter whether I fought against him or not," Loki says. "He will wipe out everyone who opposes him, who's ever opposed him. The torture you saw will be sweet compared to what he does to me next." Loki's eyes are sharp as they stare into Thor's. "I would rather die on the battlefield against him than live in a universe where Thanos wins."

Thor takes a breath, about to argue more, when an explosion rocks the compound. He and Loki stare at each other for a moment, then Thor summons the rest of his armor and Loki stands as his own armor appears. "It seems I won't be safer if I stay here after all," Loki says. "Shall we, brother?"

"Like old times, I suppose," Thor agrees, picking up the new hammer Tony made him.

There are knives in Loki's hands that Thor knows weren't there a moment ago, and there's a wicked grin on his face that Thor remembers seeing when they were young and about to throw themselves into the most terrible trouble. "Like old times," Loki agrees, and they burst out of the room.

"'Bout time you got out here, Point Break," Tony calls as they get downstairs. He's already all suited up, as are all the other Avengers scattered around the room. "…And you brought Reindeer Games."

"What is happening?" Thor asks, ignoring Tony's less-than-enthusiastic tone.

"Chitauri are trying to get in," Tony replies. "Haven't managed it yet, but we can't count on that to stay the case. I'm pretty sure we're going to have to fight them off."

"We've fought the bastards back once," Clint says, shooting Loki a poisonous look. Loki, for his part, does look guilty for at least a moment before the expression disappears from his face. "We can do it again."

"This will be a more focused army than the one I led," Loki says, shaking his head. "And led by a much more cunning commander. Thanos is in a league of his own. The Chitauri are little more than dumb animals, but Thanos is more powerful and intelligent than your mortal minds could possibly imagine."

"We can imagine quite a bit," Tony says, sounding offended.

"Our imaginations aside, we need to come up with a plan here," Steve says. "We can't hold the Chitauri back with fancy doors forever. They're gonna get in here at some point, and we have to be ready."

"We should take the fight out there, to them," Loki says immediately.

"Um, being inside is kind of our only advantage right now," Tony says. "You wanna give it up why?"

"Why are we asking for advice from him anyway?" Clint asks.

"Loki has always had a clever mind for strategy," Thor declares. "I understand your distrust, Clint, but-"

"We need all the help we can get, yeah, yeah," Clint grumbles. He shoots Natasha a look that makes Thor think she's had this conversation with him already. "But your brother's strategy sucked when he fought us, just saying."

"I am better at strategy when in my right mind," Loki replies, his voice only a little pointed. "And being inside is only an advantage while the Chitauri are outside, where they will not be staying much longer. Having more open space to fight will be better than attempting to fight in closed quarters."

"He's kinda right," Sam admits after a moment. "I mean, I know I don't have any room to maneuver in here. I don't even think I could use my wings at all."

"If it would be a disadvantage for us, would it not be a disadvantage for the Chitauri too?" Thor asks. "Perhaps we could make that work in our favor."

Loki starts shaking his head before Thor even finishes the sentence. "It won't be a disadvantage for them. The Chitauri will overwhelm the entire building, and they won't give a damn about the structure itself. They'll destroy it in a heartbeat." Loki purses his lips a little, the way he always does when he's thinking. "We'll need to wait until the right moment to go out there, and we won't want to go out through the door they're besieging. Are there other exits?"

"'Course there are," Tony replies. "A bunch of 'em. FRIDAY! Pull up a map of the facility."

"Are you sure you're up for this?" Steve asks, frowning at Loki. His eyes flicker down to Loki's hands, which are visibly bandaged. Thor knows there are bandages on his torso and feet too, but Loki's clothes cover those.

Loki's mouth twitches a little, like he's about to bare his teeth like he always does when Thor says anything to insinuate that he might be weak, but he manages to keep a more neutral expression on his face. "I can take care of myself, Captain."

Thor looks over at Valkyrie, who's across the room. He catches her eye, then nods a little at Loki, hoping she'll get the message. She's sworn to protect the throne of Asgard, and even though Asgard doesn't exactly exist anymore, Thor's going to hold her to that oath for the moment. Instead of protecting the throne, though, he wants her to protect the second in line. Loki may insist that he's alright to fight, but Thor knows that Loki can sometimes push past his own limits without either realizing or caring. He doesn't want that to happen today.

Valkyrie follows Thor's gaze to Loki, then nods once. Thor hopes she's got the message and refocuses on the others. Tony's got a holographic map of the compound up, and he's showing Loki the different exits.

"This is where most of the Chitauri seem to be," he says, gesturing around the front door. "Hey, FRIDAY, can you add the Chitauri to the projection?"

 _"Yes, sir,"_ FRIDAY replies, and a moment later there are red dots sprinkled all around the compound. The highest concentration are centered around the front door, but there are others coming around the sides of the compound.

"There," Loki says, pointing at the back door. The Chitauri haven't reached it yet. "The ground fighters should go out through there."

"Ground fighters?" Steve repeats.

"Anyone who can fly should go through the window up there," Loki replies, pointing at the window on the front of the building on the second floor. "And any snipers should stay there too. But the ground fighters should go out the back and go around. It'll make for a better attack if we can get around the Chitauri and corner them against the building the best we can."

"Sounds good to me," Steve says, looking around. "Thor?"

Thor nods. "My brother's tactical mind is as brilliant as ever. This plan seems sound."

"Alright," Steve says, looking out over the group. "So, people who can fly should head up to the window. Clint, you're our sniper, go with them. Everyone else, let's go to the back door."

"Loki," Thor says quietly, taking Loki's arm before he can start heading to the door with the others. "Why don't you go with Clint? You can be a sniper of sorts."

"I'm not a sniper," Loki dismisses. "That's not where I belong."

"But you could work as a sniper," Thor argues. "You can cast magic over distances, and you can throw knives."

"I will be more effective on the ground. And I doubt your Hawkeye will be very pleased to work so closely alongside me."

The second point is undoubtedly true. The first would be true if Loki were in his usual state, but in this weakened one, Thor's not sure that it is. But he takes too long to answer, and Loki takes his silence as acquiescence, and before Thor knows it, Loki's already left the room after Steve and the other ground fighters.

"You want me to keep an eye on him, right?" Valkyrie asks, falling in step next to Thor as he heads out as well.

"If you would," Thor agrees. "But don't let him know that you're keeping an eye on him. I don't think he'll take kindly to the idea."

"Course he won't," Valkyrie mutters. "Who would want to know he's got people looking out for him?"

"Loki does not like it when he thinks people think him weak," Thor replies. "I fear I may have, in part, caused that. There was some… teasing, when we were young on Asgard."

"From the sound of it, you've gotten over a lot of things Loki did when you were 'young on Asgard,'" Valkyrie replies. "Loki can get over this."

She may have a point, but Loki has always been much better at holding grudges than Thor. "Regardless, he hasn't yet, so I don't want to him to know we're keeping an eye on him. Discretion would be appreciated."

Valkyrie sketches an only somewhat respectful-looking bow. "Your wish is my command, my liege."

Thor and Valkyrie reach the door a little bit later than the others, but not too much. Loki shoots them a suspicious look, but ignores them in favor of discussing tactics in a hushed voice with Steve.

"Alright," Steve says after a minute. "We're splitting into two groups. Half of us will go around from the right, the other half around from the left. Nat, Scott, Bruce, you're with me. We're going right. Asgardians, you're going left."

"Understood," Natasha says. The others all nod. Thor does as well, when Steve's eyes seek him. He appreciates being able to fight alongside Loki, in case something goes wrong.

"Let's go," Steve says, beckoning his group together and heading around the building.

Thor turns to Loki and Valkyrie. Loki's already holding a knife in each hand, and there's a light green glow pooling around his fingers.

"Shall we?" he asks.

Thor and Valkyrie share a look, then Thor nods. "For all the realms, and all the places in between."

A wicked grin curls Loki's lips. "For vengeance," he corrects, and he starts to run.

* * *

 **In case anyone is confused, the Avengers (and assorted allies) at the moment consist of Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint, Sam, Rhodey, Vision, Wanda, Scott, Bruce, Thor, Valkyrie, and Loki. Bucky is still on ice in Wakanda, and T'Challa is also still in Wakanda. Peter is at home in New York.**


End file.
